MS Dhoni’s prophecy on Jasprit Bumrah close to fruition
Naming him as vice-captain for the home Test and T20I series versus Sri Lanka, chief selector Chetan Sharma said they are hoping to groom Jasprit Bumrah as one of the future prospects for leadership under new all-formats skipper Rohit Sharma.
Before resting him for the limited-overs series against West Indies, Sharma had also appointed Bumrah as the vice-captain on duty for the ODI leg of the tour of South Africa.
The ascent to the leadership group reflects the unorthodox pacer’s incredible rise in Indian cricket after sustained excellence across all formats. Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s go-to man in all conditions and all versions of the game for nearly six years now.
But do you know that Bumrah’s captaincy prospects were identified as early as his first season in international cricket? Yes, and the man to foresee Bumrah being an Indian captain one day was none other than the legendary MS Dhoni.
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Jasprit Bumrah made his international debut under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.
When MS Dhoni saw a captaincy material in Jasprit Bumrah
Famous journalist and cricket writer Bharat Sundaresan revealed on Saturday (February 19) that Dhoni saw a future India captain in Jasprit Bumrah as early as the 2016 tour of Zimbabwe.
Having made an impressive limited-overs debut for India only six months back in Australia, Bumrah enjoyed a good IPL 2016 for Mumbai Indians (MI) and was retained for the series in Zimbabwe.
Dhoni, who by then had given up Test captaincy for nearly two years, went to the tour as captain along with India’s fringe players. Seeing Bumrah operate closely and take responsibility whenever handed the ball, Dhoni suggested the young gun could become an India captain one day, as recalled by Sundaresan.
And today, as the speedster stands only an injury away from actually captaining his country, Dhoni’s prophecy seems to be turning true.
MS Dhoni had hinted on the sidelines during the 2016 tour to Zimbabwe that Jasprit Bumrah, who was then only 6 months old in international cricket, would captain India someday. Here we are in 2022 with Bumrah only a niggle to Rohit Sharma away from leading India in a Test #INDvSL
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) February 19, 2022
The 2016 tour of Zimbabwe also saw the likes of KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal among others take their first leap towards becoming the giants of the Indian white-ball game. Bumrah’s T20I debut in Adelaide against Australia in January coincided with the debut of premier allrounder Hardik Pandya.
Jasprit Bumrah has now played 27 Tests, 70 ODIs and 55 T20Is for India, taking nearly 300 international wickets with a terrific record in each format.